chapter nineteen: how one should avoid hatred and contempt
in machiavelli's eyes, it is absolutely important for the ruler to avoid becoming an object of disdain. i definitely see this connecting to my life in a million different ways. i know that most people out there do not enjoy having someone mad at them or talk badly of them, but i am the extreme in that example. if i even think that someone is pissed off at me, or disappointed in me, or even just a little annoyed, it drives me crazy. it is all i can think about.
the problem is, i am in no way a perfect person. i screw up and do and say wrong things almost all the time, which is probably why i am so paranoid about people being upset with me. i guess the simplest solution is to stop doing things that are wrong and that way i would never have to worry about someone hating or feeling contempt for me...but at the same time, in order to keep everyone around me happy that would entail lying once in a while or doing something that might cause another person to feel contempt for me.
machiavelli says "make every effort to ensure your actions suggest greatness and endurance, strength of character and of purpose." what strikes me in this sentence is the use of the word "suggest." does that mean leading people to falsely believe you are a certain kind of person and hoping like hell that they never find out? im not proud of it, but ive done that before and guess what...people find out you're not who you say you are, and you will become the object of their hatred and contempt.
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Your right, you always have to be yourself because if not it doesn't take people long to figure out who you really are. It is such a balancing act trying to keep everyone appeased and I think we all fall every once and a while. But the only thing we can do is try and do the right thing the next time.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally the same way. I literally get soooo anxious when someone is upset with me or even might be...
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